Fence tool



Filed May 19, 1928 2 sheetssheet 1 lJ. E. Grifmh F Il gripping jaws with the wire.-

Patented Mar. 3, 193117 y j l l UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE Application filed May 19, 1928. Serial No. 279,142.

My invention relates to wire stretchers and Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my wire it includes a number of novel features for stretcher. simplifying the operation of the wire Figure 2 is an edge Viewy of the wire stretch- Stretchror sliowing the fulcrum `and handle members 5 One of the objects of my invention is the ylng 111 the'same plane. |55

provision of a curvature in the gripping jaws Flgule 3 1S a plan View showingparticusuch that the maximum amount of gripping 12H15 the CulVatule of the gripping jaws and action is obtained with the least amount of StoWlnifalso 1n dotttod hoes tho bottom Por Crushing force tions of the grooves.

i Another of my objects is the provision of a Flgullo t 1S t Sootlonol VloW through the 6.0 curvature especially in the stationary jaw laws adlttoont tho noso ond thereof and Show* such that it is possible to turn the wire 111g tho Shght CUlYltUfle 0f the grooves at the stretcher a considerable distance around the Cotttot Pomt Whoo Wlro of Smau dla-mote? 1S fence post without any interference of theV grllpod j Y j f j l* igure is a view similar to Figure 4, the t@ Another of my objects is the provisionof Sectio-tm modo at@ Point toYVHfd the h eel grooves in the gripping jaws for more firmly Ot the Jaws and ShoWmg tho gl'lPPlng aotlon engaging the wire7 thedepth of the grooves aglnst tvlqestmrds of, Wio increasing from nothing or almostvnothing f lgure. 1S a" p au VleW of the )all Portlon ,w at the nose ends of the jaws to the maximum 0 e Wu@ Stretcher When Usod Wlth Small depth at the heel of the jaws. Wlit' 7. .1 1 u Another of my objects is the provision ofl lgure 1S 51ml lr VleW s lOWmg the 190.51' a wii'e stretcher construction such that the mon of .the tVYO Jaws m engagement Wlth Wlo pivotal movement of the jaws be conof medlum @amel-ier' r 5 trolled and held by the useof one hand only Flgure 8 1S Snmlm to Flgures and 7 but 70 and without a postor other object asf an 1t Slows die posltlon of the tWo lows toting abutment A' 'i CDF-eiwy mt Y iguie 9 is an illustration showing thc Another of my oloJoCtS 1S tho PfoVlSlon ot manner in which the pivotal movements of SQ011Cl1`y h01d11g momS ddltlolml to tho the jaws may be controlled and held by the 8 gripping jaws whereby the loose Gnd 0f the usefof one hand only and showing also the wire may be transported over considerable manner in which the wire stretcher as a wholel distances without the danger incidental to may be swungaround a fence post in ordei` to the handling of long coils of loosewire. f produce the` proper Vdegree of tension in the r Another object which j I have in view is W11??-V v 8 the provision of a' structurerelated to the sec- Flgufo 10 1S o Plon VloWot tho JLW Portion oiidary holding means whereby the wire will 2t the. Wu'o strotohelshowlng Politoulol'ly tho be released from the secondary holding means tunel-101.1 and Opel'atlqnof the Secondary hold when the gripping. jaws engage the Wire ing device for engaging the loose end of the An important object of my invention is the WllFehfOr ttanprla'tlgn' lprovision of fulcrum and handle members Ber l?) i lfuc er mdudos a'himdtlelnem which are arranged in alignment, the ful- HJ t 't llnm mm et P IYO a y s?" crum member being narrow and the Wire be- Curec 1ere 0 a an p1 Olectmg m both d1- 1 rections from the pivot. The fulcrum mem 45 tween the Jaws loolng always m the Plane Ot bei' has two parts 12 and 13 which are in effect 95 the fulciilmV and handle llollbe' integral. These two parts 12 and 13 may be VHaving in View these obj eets and OtherS formed out of a single piece of metal but they which' will be pointed out inthe following, are preferably formed independently and descriptionyl will now refer to the drawings, c then rmly united as by riveting orv welding.

5,0 in which The parts 10 and 12 lie in the same plane and 100 ing the axis of the pivot 11 as a ceiit`er,`thisbe ing best shown in Figure 3. The Vcurve v`of thejaw on the fulcrum membergis -a-lsepreferably in the same form. The aw on the handle member 1() is heavily ribbed at 14 andthe jaw on the fulcrum member is likewise ribbed at 15, the ribs having substantially the widthofthe body portions of theseniembers so that the aws are i1i'eifect"`doiibled inwidth. 'rBkoth jaws aaiegrooved from` apoint adj acent'th'e nose e'iiv'dI f Vthe jaws, the'y grooves increasing'in depth' toward theheel `ends of the jaws. jThe depth of the grooves zis' greatest 'toward `the heelen'ds ofthe jaws as show-nin"'Figuref5 and itis =least yadjacent the nose ends 'of the jaws as shown `in Figiire' but fthe 'grooves'fp'refcrab-ly terminate short of'the'nose ends' olf-thc jaws.` j. M 'j I` The wire stretcher is'desi'gned 'primarily for use 'in s'tretch'ingb'arb; wire "fencing both in the erection of new fences andinIthe repair Aof old fences. Because of the sharp barbs this 'fencing is Vexceedingly d" ttlcult to handle fand lit 'usually requires jthe iise' of 'both hands Yfor -causingthe wirefvsvtretcher" to en'- gage the wire. 'Intthe priorlconstructions'so far' as I am aware the lfulC-ruin member ,is lcausedto 'rest against lthe Vfence post or other abutment so as to make ispossible forgthe user to closethe jaws of 'the wire stretcher afterthe wire Vhas been p aiioned the jaws. Fence posts, howeverfare:not-convenient-l-y placed fortliis purpose and-it is necessary Vfor the vuse; to have' seme control over the pivotalk movement of the 'jaws lin order -to Lmanip'ulate vthe Vwire. The inen'ber 'overlapping the ihandle "ineniber 10` isso positioned and shaped :that the 1l'ia'n'dfnia'y Ireadilygrasp beth neinbens 31'@ 4and 13 in the lmanner shew-n indrligureff), th #leaving ether'ha-nd free lto guide theariienbetween `:the jaws. As will'be Iseen lfrom'that figur-e, it is possible to open and close the `jaws Vby simply decreasing yor increasing the grip of the 'hand on thelinembers 10 andV l3nt a peint adjacent fthe, pivot 11.

The wire :stretcher is applied Ytothe Afence post in the manner *show-n in Figure 9. VAlfterllthe' lbarb wire has been placed in ien- Ygagement between "the aws -ef the -inembers '10V and 1Q in-thelmanner shown" in `Figure 9, leverage is applied to the wire stretcher at the end fofthehandle member 10. in' this manner Ithe" fulcruni 4niemberl of 'theiwi're stretcher Ais-"forced around 'thapost until the "proper 'degree of tension is obtained. The

stretching operation 4is gdone lby `using one Ehand only, VYleaving the other hand free to 'with a'slight incurve inthe edge.

trudingslnots,r.the wire stretcher may slip a 'little diiringthe initial stretching operaftiong-but it will quickly lind its seat long be fore the required degree of tension has been obtained. A Since the handle and fulcruni members are in the same plane and since the contact lpoi-nt `'of fthe gripping :jaws zlies'in the samey plane with the handle andfulcrum members, no ltorsionail etl'ec'ts are 1pr 3iluced which in so many cases cause the upsetting ofthe wire stretcher andthe releasing ofthe wire from engagement withthe wire stretcher. Such :upsetting is :practically iin-possible in the use :of thev present 'wire stretcher even if the frucrum member bears against the most irregular' surfaces.

En bn-ildingfences it is often-necessary that the lloeseend of the wire be dragged over consideraible'distances between posts. The barb wireis exceedinglyldii'iicult'to handle because of the barbs whichmake it difficult 'to grasp the wire firmlywiththe hand. Thefdiliiculty is :greatlyaggrafvated in dragging the loose .end Yfrom ,post to post fbeca-use of the whipping linduced by Vtheuncoili-ing''of the wire from the coil. It would :be ,possible to engage the wire between the jaws of thewire stretcher and to thus rmove Yit overfthe irequ-iredfdista'nces but-this lnecessitates xholding the ,jaws in vclosed position. lithe operator releaseshisgrip on A.the Ywire stretcher Vfor an instant, the wire iis apt to 'be releasedv and to whip around with possible serious consequences to the user. 'For this reason have provided af notch 16 vin the' 'nose endlof the handle meniber '10,thisjnotc`h ybeing so placed 'that' it is possible 'to position "theloose end rof 'theavfifrebetween vthe jaws yand =to 'then Ebend it over in the manner :shown fin IFigure' 110. This iholding .means afforcls amp'le security to zprevent the release. of the lend Eof Athe "wire Awhen draggingwitffrem .post rto post. The holding fine'ans '16, however, is reinforced by the-action of the jaws which assistin :holding the end of -the wirevi-n 4engag-ement with the wire" stretcher. An `.inspectionlof Figure 10 willalso reveal fthat when the wirehas .been

brought to the .p ost and the fulcrum ,member has been ,placed in Contact with thepost, the

ltight closing of thejaws Awill force'the' wire ffrom the notch 16. In order to prevent this release lprematurely from the'notch 16, l have shaped the edgelof theineinber V13 in themannerjs'hown in dotted' lines at 17in Figure 10 mits the closing of the jaws and the curve is It should be noted particularly that rllhis vvperiso . .so formed that it will not release the wire from the notch until the jaws are sufficiently closed to tightly grip the wire when it is under considerable tension.

In Figure Gis shown the manner in which a very small wire is engaged between the jaws. In this instance only the nose ends of thejaws are in operative position and the wire is gripped between the jaws at a point where the Grooves are shallow as shown in Figure 4:. lIn the case of barb wire which is usually formed of two strands of wire, the gripping action takes place at points somewhat more remote from the nose ends as shown in Figure 6 and the two strands are seated in a deeper portion of the grooves as shown in Figure 5. As will be readily apparent from an inspection of these figures, the wire will find its appropriate seat at the proper point in the jaws and the curved surfaces presented by the grooves will provide a much greater gripping surface than would be provided if the grooves were absent.

Having thus described my invention in such full, clear, and exact terms that its con struction and operation will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which vit pertains, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States l. A wire stretcher including a handle member and a fulcrum member positioned in end to end relation and having wire gripping jaws on the abutting ends thereof, and means pivotally connecting said two ymembers together for opening and closing said jaws, the

. abutting end portion of one of said members being provided with a notch for receiving a looped portion of the wire to be stretched, said notch being so positioned with reference to the edge of the other of said members that the loop of wire will be released therefrom during the final gripping movement of said jaws.

2. A wire stretcher including a pair of members positioned in end to end relation and having wire gripping jaws on the abutting ends thereof, a plate rigidly secured to one of said members and overlapping the other of said members, and a pivotal connection between said plate and said overlapping member, the gripping surfaces of said jaws being inthe form of converging curves for gripping wires of 'different diameters and each of said gripping surfaces being provided with a groove positioned lengthwise thereof for seating the wire t0 be gripped.

3. A wire stretcher including a pair of members positioned in end vto end relation and having wire gripping jaws on the abutting ends thereof, and means pivotally connecting said two members together, the gripping surfaces of both said jawshavlng con- Vex forms in a lengthwise direction and having concave surfaces transversely thereof.

4. A wire stretcher including a pair of members positioned in end to end relation and having wire gripping aws on the abutting ends thereof, and means pivotally connecting'said two members together, the gripping surfaces of both said jaws being provided with grooves increasing in depthfrom the nose ends of said jaws toward the heel ends thereof.

5. In a fence tool, a member having a spike portion and an anvil portion, and a handle member pivotally connected to said first named member intermediate the spike and anvil portions thereof for supporting said two portions in working position in a plurality of angular positions relative to said handle member.

6. In a fence tool, wire cutting means including a member provided with a wire holding notch, and a shear blade coacting with said member, the shearing edge of said lshear blade being incurved for guiding the wire into the holding notch to facilitate the positioning of the wire in the notch.

7. A wire stretcher including a handle member and a fulcrum member positioned v in end to end relation and in a common plane, an offset member secured to and pro- L portion of said handle member, and a `pivotal connection between the overlapping portion of said offset member andy said handle member, the overlapping portion of said offset member having a rounded edge substantially tangential to an edge of said handle member whereby said handle member and said offset member may be grasped by one hand to control the pivotal movements thereof.

In testimony whereof I aliX my signature.

JESSE E. GRIFFITH. 

